The Caribbean is a major route via which cocaine enters the U.S., as well as being a major secondary route for marijuana and other drugs. A 2004 report by Caribbean local outpost of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime the Caribbean drug trade commands around $5B USD in annual revenue and accounts for around 125-170 of the pure metric tons of cocaine entry North America, or around 50 percent of it.

To date the U.S. has largely relied on Coast Guard and naval patrols to try to spot and intercept the drug smugglers. Now its going high tech, adopting an armada of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The initial deployment involves testing an unmanned aerostat (blimp) named "Aerostar" and RQ-20 Puma hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicles aboard the High Speed Vessel Swift, a 321-foot vessel in the Fourth fleet.

I. Meet Aerostar

Both Puma and the Aerostar have seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the military is putting them to use in another one of the nation's long-standing and costly wars -- the war on drugs.

The Aerostar is typically will be equipped with the "Kestrel" wide-area scanning sensor from Logos Technologies and the Wescam sensor from L-3 Communications, which provides narrower range multi-imaging. It has an effective scanning range of about 50 miles at altitude -- nearly ten times the visibility of a the Navy surface craft.

II. Meet Puma

The Puma is produced by AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV) a Monrovia, Calif.-based UAV maker. With a range of 9 miles/2 hours it serves a companion role, giving a "God's eye view" of potential targets spotted by Aerostar. Its electrooptical and infrared cameras offer close-up inspection of targets, while its 13-pound frame makes for easy hand launches.

A Puma test launch aboard the Swift [Image Source: AP]

Puma fliers travel between 23 and 52 mph. The craft is driven by a small propeller, powered by onboard lithium-ion batteries.

The Puma joins the CBP's Predator drones in patrolling the Caribbean; two of the CBP's ten domestic Predator drones patrol that region. It also joins Air Force jets and other aircraft, which regularly do flyovers of the region on patrol.

The U.S. Navy has begun testing both fliers last week. Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris, commander of the Navy's 4th Fleet, says this is the first time that UAVs have been used in Caribbean drug patrols.

Not all went smoothly. The Puma on its first return at a press demo plunged into the ocean and had to be retrieved -- fortunately it floats. A second launch saw a landing on deck.

The Navy is looking to UAVs and smaller, faster craft to handle drug enforcement needs amid budget cuts from the sequester. Last year The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Thach (FFG 43), USS Gary (FFG 51), and guided-missile frigate USS Nicholas (FFG 47) were deployed in the region on a special mission dubbed Operation Martillo ("martillo" means hammer in Spanish).

The operation was a relative success -- according to naval sources it seized 160 tons ($4B worth) of cocaine, valued at $12B USD in street resale value; 25,000 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $10M USD on the streets; and $3.5M USD in cash were seized.

However, the sequester effectively ended Martillo and its deployment of larger ships to traffick the Caribbean. The sequestration is slashing $4B USD from the Navy budget. A frigate costs only around $25M USD to operate a year [source]. Crew costs can be around $2.1M USD for the complement of 21 officers onboard and around $4.6M USD for the complement of 190 enlisted naval servicemen [source]. Given these relatively low costs it's somewhat unclear why the Navy chose to cut this mission given Martillo's success, but the UAVs will certainly help save costs.

if you think you are right then please explain why they keep having to make most pain killers prescription only. In fact, in most doctor office and hospitals, drugs such as morphine has to be closely watched and meticulously tracked. Please ask the nearest nurse about it and hear her stories about people stealing them.

Guess what's happening as a result of banning generic brands of pain killers and putting more controls on access? The price is going up.

What do you think the result is?

Yup, you guessed it, an "epidemic" in most states of Heroin use as a result of the decrease in availability of the prescription drugs. (i.e. the cops are seeing more violence not because of the use of Heroin, but because Heroin isn't as easy to get and requires a more complex supply chain, and thus more points for conflict, the crime rate goes up when demand goes up.)

It doesn't solve the problem, it just moves it somewhere else because supply and demand still applies no matter how you go about looking at the situation.

You're making my point wonderfully. You need to educate yourself on basic economics and the history of drug prohibition in this country and others around the world. Once you do, you'll see the reality of the situation and realize that your position is ridiculous.

quote: Guess why pain killers are used by people? They're easier to get, and cheaper.

Great point! so legalizing them will make them easier to get and cheaper. Now we have more people hopped up on pain killers. They will eventually want something that hit harder and move up to hard drugs.

quote: Yup, you guessed it, an "epidemic" in most states of Heroin use as a result of the decrease in availability of the prescription drugs. (i.e. the cops are seeing more violence not because of the use of Heroin, but because Heroin isn't as easy to get and requires a more complex supply chain, and thus more points for conflict, the crime rate goes up when demand goes up.)

You basically just said there will always be druggies looking for the next hit. So making drugs accessible to them is going to solve it? The reason why people use heroin and meth is that it is cheap for its effects. Do you realize that people move up from generic pain killers to morphine to heroine. Yea druggies craves more and harder each time so someone just popping percocet isn't going to stop there. All you end up doing by legalizing everything is opening up the gate to more potential addict.

Heroine and meth will always be cheaper than any thing made legally even if they legalize drugs. How long do you think an addict can keep a job? I don't know of a single employer who would want any of their employee to go outside to take a hit and come back high. They will run out of money soon and things will spiral out of control.

quote: It doesn't solve the problem, it just moves it somewhere else because supply and demand still applies no matter how you go about looking at the situation

Wow, let's sweep it under the rug because no one will see it there.No it doesn't do anything except make things worse. Supply and Demand is disrupted when intervention from outside sources are present. For example, ceilings ,floors, laws, culture, etc..

Please explain to me how supply and demand will change the mind of an addict. I don't think they care what they have to do to get it.